You Don't Need to Be Strong for Me
by just-O
Summary: One-Shot. Lion-O mourns the loss of his father. He is angry, and when pressured by Tygra, he breaks.


**A/N: Huzzah! Writer's block has disappeared! (For now that is...Shh! Fingers crossed.) This is set in the new cartoon-verse, somewhere between Episode 3 (Ramlak Rising) & Episode 4 (Song of the Petalars). Warning: None? Other than it is rather short, an there is a LOT of dialogue. Apologies. -_-'**

**Disclaimer: ThunderCats (c) uh...not me.**

88888888

"Lion-O come back here!" Tygra yelled after the young pri-king as he stormed away from their little campsite.

"Shut up, Tygra! Leave me alone!" He turned around and snarled before quickly continuing on his way.

The elder cat growled in frustration. "Why is he being so difficult?!"

"Tygra, don't play dumb. You _know_ why," Cheetara chided, causing the tiger's shoulders to tense before relaxing again.

"I don't know what to do with him," he huffed, turning away.

"He needs reassurance Tygra."

"But I don't know what to say...I never imagined things would turn out like this."

"None of us did. Least of all Lion-O. He's still so young," she sighed sadly. "To have the throne thrust upon him in such a fashion...I can only imagine what he must be feeling. The expectations. The responsibility. The weight of it all in addition to the sudden loss of his father...He needs help, Tygra. He needs you."

Tygra shook his head. "But, how the hell am I supposed to help him?"

Cheetara smiled. "Oh, I'm sure you'll think of something tough guy."

0000000000

Lion-O stood in the middle of a clearing, staring out at the empty space before him. Tygra watched him stand like that for a few minutes, gathering up his courage to confront the younger cat.

When he felt good and prepared, the tiger took a deep breath and started towards the center of the small area, making sure to snap a few twigs to alert the other cat to his presence.

Lion-O turned around when he heard the first loud snap, signalling he had company. Seeing that Tygra had followed him, sparked his temper and he turned to leave, but before he could get very far a large hand grasped his shoulder, tugging him back.

"Wait, Lion-O. We need to talk."

The young lord shrugged the hand off his shoulder and scoffed at his older brother. "No. We don't. I don't want to listen to anything you have to say. All you ever do is criticize me and I'm done."

Tygra sighed before smiling jokingly. "Lion-O, I'm your older brother, it's what I'm _supposed_ to do."

This earned a scowl from Lion-O. He was not amused by Tygra's attempt at lightening the situation. Just the opposite, in fact. It made his blood boil. Tygra was making fun of him. Just like he always did. That's why he'd followed him. That had to be the reason. Well, Lion-O was having none of that.

"I thought I told you to leave me alone."

"You did."

"So why didn't you then?" Lion-O snapped childishly.

"What do you want me to say, Lion-O?"

"Nothing!" he shouted angrily. "I don't want you to say anything! I meant what I said earlier, Tygra. Leave. Me. ALONE."

"I can't do that, Lion-O. I'm sorry," Tygra replied, remaining calm and collected. He had to take his time with this. It was a delicate situation and he had to let his brother vent, even if that meant he would need to take a few hits.

Lion-O let loose a mirthless laugh. "Right. Sure you are. But guess what, Tygra? I don't care." He took a step away and shoved his hands in his pockets.

Again, a heavy hand gripped his shoulder, halting his movements.

"I told you, we need to talk," Tygra said in the same toneless voice he used previously.

This time, Lion-O reacted violently to being touched, smacking his brother's hand off with a snarl.

"I don't want to talk! Not to you! Not to anybody! If you don't leave-"

"What? What are you going to do, _my king_?" Tygra mocked, changing tactics.

The young lion bristled at the words. His entire being shook. How _dare_ he. Lion-O whirled around and charged his brother, throwing a punch towards his face.

"Don't call me that!"

Tygra easily blocked the frontal assault, but made no move to retaliate.

"Don't you call me that!" Another punch, this time to Tygra's midsection.

Tygra blocked again, shouting back, "Why not? That's what you are now!"

"No!" He didn't even think about where to hit this time, he just lashed out. "I don't want to be king!"

"Why not?" Tygra prodded as he dodged or continued to block every attempt at hitting him that Lion-O made.

"I didn't ask for this! I wasn't ready! Father wasn't supposed to die!"

Tygra caught his brother's wrists in his hands and tugged the younger cat so they were face to face. "But he did, Lion-O. Father is gone."

The fury dissipated in a moment, leaving a pained expression on the teen's face.

"He's gone." Blue eyes welled up in an instant.

Lion-O tried to pull out of his brother's hold, but Tygra only tightened his grip.

"And you are king. But right now..." He paused, swallowing his doubts. "Right now, you are my baby brother. And you don't need to be strong. Not for me."

The tears could not be held back, and the young king's floodgates opened. Rivulets carved their way down his face and a small, pitiful sob broke free.

"It's okay," Tygra said as softly as he could, pulling his baby brother into a tight embrace.

All the tension and anger from earlier forgotten, Lion-O greedily accepted, clinging to his sibling. His body trembled, weak with the grief, and he cried hard into the other's chest.

"It's gonna be okay," Tygra continued, stroking his fingers through the red mane of hair, mimicking what had been done to him in days far gone. "It's okay to miss him. To mourn for him. Life is fragile, and it is only at times when we lose those close to us that we are forced to remember that. You feel the saddest you've ever felt about something. I know. I've been there. It makes your chest heavy and your stomach churn. Alone, the grief is hard to overcome, but you are not alone, Lion-O. You have the twins. Snarf. Cheetara. And I know I tease you. And that I challenge you and I make you angry sometimes." He heard the younger one's watery grunt of disagreement and amended his statement with a smile. "Okay, all the time. But when you really, truly need a shoulder to lean on, to cry on, I will _always_ be here. I will be strong for you because that's _my_ job. That's what older brothers are for. Okay?" Tygra finished, donning the most sincere smile he'd smiled in years.

Lion-O nodded in acceptance and sniffled. He was done crying for the moment, but he didn't want to break off the hug just yet. He hadn't been hugged by his brother since he was small, and though he would never admit it out loud, it felt good to be held like this again after so long, so he would stay there. Just a little while longer...

88888888

**A/N: Feedback is always appreciated. :) And thank you for reading.**

**Heart,**

**O**


End file.
